One fateful day about three years ago, I found out that someone had linked to my blog from their website using the link title "Chicago Trixie." That link actually brought me some traffic. (For those of you that are unaware of what a "trixie" is, I suggest you consult this Wiki. Go ahead, I'll wait.)

Back now? Okay.

So I've gotten some rotten comments from people too chickenshit to leave their names, instead using the ever popular "anonymous." I chalked it up partially to my own dumbassery for writing in a way that portrayed myself in a negative light, and also to the fact that "anonymous" didn't know me in "real" life.

Then I had the awful realization that perhaps the person commenting as "anonymous" actually DID know me in real life and was hamhandedly trying to teach me a lesson. Besides, who am I to keep people from expressing their opinion?

It really made me think about my words, my actions, and the way I come across on the outside. Yes, I like expensive things. Sometimes they are expensive AND unnecessary, like handbags and shoes. I also like inexpensive, unnecessary things like pineapple flavored candy and Target-brand boxed wine. The people who matter most to me know that there are other, far more important parts of my personality that vastly outweigh the superficial stuff. Belongings do not define someone. They merely accessorize that person. After all, you can't take it with you.

I may never be subtle, slender, or perfectly pressed at all times. I may never own a fancy car, a fancy house, or fancy jewelry. But I am me, for better or for worse, and this blog has done more than you can imagine to teach me that I don't owe ANYONE justification or explanation for my choices, my words, or my life.

So you'll just have to forgive me when I say this:I saw these unbelievably gorgeous shoes in Rome, and I want them with every fiber of my being. I don't care how ridiculously expensive they are, or how impractical they may be. Someday, I will buy a pair of shoes like this just because I can. Maybe not now, but someday.

So go ahead and think I'm a stuck-up bitch if you want, whoever you are. As far as I'm concerned, you can stick it.